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The Hydralisk is a ranged Lair-tech unit that can be morphed after building a Hydralisk Den. The Hydralisk's fast attack and high damage make it effective at dealing consistent to ground and air unit in the game. Can morph into the Lurker after morphing the Hydralisk Den into a Lurker Den.

Due to the large difference in speed off-creep and on-creep, the Muscular Augments upgrade and/or spreading creep should be a key focus when executing any Hydra-based strategy.

Hydralisk (and Lurkers) are made for it's attack range to counter units with a similar attack range like Stalkers and Marauders, usually with high health Roaches to tank and Burrow/Tunneling Claws combo to retreat the low health Roaches. This simple and forgiving unit composition is great for lower level players that wish to practice their micro with a friend against Terran Barracks or Protoss Gateway units before moving onto a more complex unit composition.

Note that while the Hydralisk also has a melee attack animation when attacking ground units at melee range, this attack is still affected by the normal Ranged Attack upgrades. However, this close range attack is not affected by Guardian Shield, nor is it blocked by a point Defense Drone. Also, compared to Heart of the Swarm, the range upgrade was merged with the Muscular Augments upgrade.

Nydus Worms or Overlord drops are commonly used with Hydralisks and Queens to make up for their lack of mobility to attack one location and using a more mobile units to attack a second location.

Hydralisks are considerably weak against area-of-effect damage without the range of advantage of Broodlords or high health of Roaches to tank damage. The Liberator can single shot Hydras, Baneling's/Hellbat's bonuses to Light unit damage and all of Protoss's high damage and variety of units that deal splash damage and area of effect spells. Unsupported Hydralisks will also struggle against Charge-upgraded Zealots, Hellions, and masses of Marines.

The Hydralisk is usually the alternative to the Mutalisk after it has been hard countered by air splash damage of Liberators or Widow Mines or overwhelmed by bonus Light damage of Phoenix; after this Zerg can transition to Nydus Worms to continue the raiding style of Mutalisks if the opponent does not push an attack.

Against Protoss, Hydralisks may be considered one of the best counters to Gateway units (particularly the problematic Sentry) and the damage they inflict is especially effective against Stalker and Zealots.

Moreover, with enough upgrade spending, Hydralisks can even trade with Void Rays almost 1 to 1. However, the damage itself is outweighed by the Zerg being attrition-based race, so late game Hydralisks still remain glass cannons - while retaining their effective damage, their health and armor is found lacking when facing a Protoss deathball or lots of AoE.

That being said, while Hydralisks' main weakness is their vulnerability to AoE, the Protoss are severely lacking in that regard. Hence, when in army versus army combat, be on alert for enemy Disruptors or High Templars, and, if you note their presence, stay on the widest ground possible, as their AoE can only work if they can get you trapped in a narrow path (and remember - narrow for Zerg is not the same as narrow for Protoss or Terran). Colossi is another threat you have to be cautious about. While seemingly undangerous units when facing a horde of Hydralisks, the combination of Colossi and Sentries does pose a lot of danger. Sentries will wall your Hydras off, while Colossi with a range upgrade will burn your army down. The relatively obvious solution to the aforementioned is using either a few Vipers and their Abduct or a few Infestors with Neural Parasite upgrade. Once the target is pulled in, it must be focused down, wherever it's abducted or mind-controlled.

Obvious uses for Hydralisks in ZvP include using them as a backbone AA unit (as their burst makes short work of Carriers' Interceptors), or playing Hydalisk rush, with topping the rush with Lurkers, Overseers and Vipers. Do note, however, that "Golden Armada" of Carriers is barely stoppable by Hydralisks alone, so you either have to end the ZvP game fast or not consider the latter strategy at all.